"Sailing Center" side-by-side 16 x 12 oil

"Sailing Center" finished                                  "Sailing Center" not quite finished

Yesterday I posted my painting of the Cohasset Sailing Center from our North Meets South Paint Out.  As with most of my paintings, I place them in my studio where I can look at them in passing to see where I may need to make adjustments.   I thought a side by side comparison of the painting I brought back from on site, and the finished painting would be useful. See the finished painting on its own below.
My process is that I do NOT use a photograph to finish the painting.  All the information I need is in already on the canvas, and in my head.  I review each edge and each plane, looking for inconsistencies, any unintentional geometry, confusion, notes that don't ring true, color temperature and freshness. 
Above, the finished painting is on the left.  I looked at every upturned plane to make sure it was cooler than all down-turned planes.  I added the harbor through the windows.  When we left the painting site, I had included some notes about the value through the windows for reference.  I refined, slightly, the large brackets beneath the roof.  I vibrated cool into some of the sky-facing planes, added some interest and warmth to the inside of the building.  I softened some edges, cleaned up some small perspective issues, and even moved my signature. 
What do you think?  Thanks for looking!

 

Monhegan Sketchbook - Harbor 4:30 PM watercolor and ink

 Later in the afternoon, shadows begin stretch down the east side of Manana, growing and overtaking the light until only a few spots of light remain, and are then extinguished.  Now that I think of it, sort of  a preview to the sunset's rhythm a couple of hours later.  I like being reminded how quickly we are rotating on this Earth.

Here is a recent page from my sketchbook.  I began applying watercolor in those remaining patches of light.  Interesting how dark they look in the top image, when seen against the white page, compared to how light they read below when surrounded by dark. 

We visited the island this summer over the 4th of July week, and again, the last week of July.  There is a huge difference in the light and shadow pattern along Manana in just those three weeks. 

This year, I brought home a clear thought about taking the time in my "regular life" to observe the magnificence of our world as I do when on Monhegan.

As always, thanks for looking.  Your comments make my day.


 

"Day Off" 6 x 8 oil

These lovely boats, one small and simple, the other large and more sophisticated were at rest in this secluded Maine cove.  Maybe their sailors are waiting for the weekend.  I like their juxtaposition and relative scale. Thanks for looking. 

Monhegan Harbor - unintentional geometry

This morning, my daughter and I were sitting with scone and coffee at the local dock.  She and I chatted and looked at the water, with ferry comings and goings, seagulls, even a couple of lovely young French children with toy swords battling their way up and down the dock a la Erroll Flynn, calling to one another, "Viens ici!" and other phrases I couldn't discern with my decades-old French training.

Then, we both looked closely at this sailboat in the harbor.  I'm hoping you can see it in these photos.
The lines extending from the top of the mast to the bow are aligned exactly with the shift in rocks behind the boat.  From our distance of across the harbor, it read like an illusion, or, for the fantasy reader, like a portal, or horcrux.  The diagonal of the rope is also the demarcation of darker rock and lighter rock.  This is a perfect example of unintended geometry that you must observe and manage in your own paintings. Don't allow an arbitrary arrangement of geometry in your subject create a disconcerting note or passage in your painting.

Step away from your painting frequently, looking from a fresh perspective.  You'll catch false notes, and fix them.  I would have designed with a shortened section of the paler rocks, allowing the line, or implied line to travel up through the darker rocks.  Or, you may decide the angle of the rocks which replicates the geometry of the boat's lines, may make a terrific painting.  My friend Nancy Sargent Howell, uses a technique she calls "prisming" in her paintings.  She sees them, and extrapolates.  See how she uses the subject's geometry in "Laundry and Lines" below.

So, what's the takeaway here?   Go for it. Make your decisions actively, not passively, with your eyes open, with intentionality!  You are the master of your two-dimensional replication of the 3-dimensional world.  Winnie the Pooh says, "Be ware, be very, very ware."  I suggest a slight modification to Pooh's advice, "Be Aware. Be very Aware."
Thanks for looking; feel free to share.